Refugees: MEPs call for humanitarian response and overhaul of asylum rules

Source: European Parliament News, 06/10/2015

The new scheme to relocate asylum seekers from Greece and Italy to
other EU member states, dialogue with Turkey on cooperation to stem
and manage migration flows, and budget measures to respond to the
unprecedented refugee crisis, were among the topics tackled in Tuesday
morning`s debate with European Council President Donald Tusk and
Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker on the outcome of the 23
September informal EU summit.


MEPs regretted the European Council`s apparent lack of ambition to
tackle the most serious refugee crisis since World War II. Some
advocated reforming the Dublin rules (for determining which member
state is responsible for handling asylum applications), opening legal
migration channels and fighting smugglers criminal networks. Measures
such as strengthening controls at the EU's external borders and
identifying, registering and fingerprinting migrants at the "hotspots"
were also addressed in the debate.


Humanitarian concern for refugees as winter draws nigh
The humanitarian situation of refugees within the EU and neighbouring
countries was the focus of a second debate with Commission First
Vice-President Frans Timmermans and Luxembourg's minister for
relations with the European Parliament during the Presidency of the
Council of the EU, Nicolas Schmit.


"The tough period is now, we can expect to see an increase in refugee
flows before we are fully into the winter months. This is also a time
when difficult decisions have to be taken to ensure the `hotspots` are
fully implemented and the budget is made available for the very EU
responses the Council has committed to", said the Chair of the
European Parliament's Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs
Committee, responsible for migration and asylum, Claude Moraes (S&D,
UK).


Migration will also be high on the agenda of the Justice and Home
Affairs Council on 8-9 October and of the next European summit on
15-16 October.


You can watch the recording of the plenary debates on Video on Demand
(VOD).


Parliament and Council to co-decide on migration and asylum rules
The European Commission`s current proposals under the co-decision
procedure, on which Parliament and Council legislate on an equal
footing, are for:
a permanent relocation mechanism for asylum seekers within the EU -
rapporteur: Timothy Kirkhope (ECR, UK),
• an EU common list of safe countries of origin – rapporteur: Sylvie
Guillaume (S&D, FR),
• changes to the Dublin rules for determining which member state is
responsible for processing applications for international protection
of unaccompanied minors – rapporteur: Cecilia Wikström (ALDE, SE),
• a review of the EU Visa Code, including provisions on humanitarian
visas – rapporteur: Juan Fernando López Aguilar (S&D, ES),
• a legal migration measure on entry and living conditions for non-EU
students and researchers - rapporteur: Cecilia Wikström (ALDE, SE), and
• the "smart borders" package, including a proposal for an "entry-exit
system" to prevent overstaying in the EU, and thus irregular migration
– rapporteurs: Agustín Díaz de Mera (EPP, ES), for the entry-exit
system, and Tanja Fajon (S&D, SL), for the registered traveller
programme (the Commission is expected to present a new "smart borders"
package in late 2015/early 2016).


Further proposals due in late 2015/early 2016
Further proposals to be presented by the Commission in December
2015/March 2016, on which Parliament should also have co-decision
powers, will include:
strengthening the EU`s Frontex border agency, enhancing its mandate,
and taking steps towards establishing a European Border and Coast Guard,
• a permanent scheme for resettling refugees now in third countries
across the EU (a proposed mechanism for relocating those already in EU
countries across the EU is already on the table),
• reform of the Dublin regulation, and
• a "legal migration" package, including a revision of the "Blue Card"
directive.
The European Parliament's committee responsible for migration and
asylum is the Civil Liberties, Justice and Home Affairs Committee. The
budgetary support measures will be dealt with by Parliament`s Budgets
Committee.